self-guided walking tour of the rock run historic...
TRANSCRIPT
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Rock Run Historic Area Hours of Operation: Weekends from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Mill: 10am - 4pm Mansion: 1pm - 4pm Private mill and mansion tours are also available upon request.
Susquehanna State Park c/o Rocks State Park 3318 Rocks Chrome Hill Road Jarrettsville, MD 20184 410-557-7994 Maryland Park Service 1-800-830-3974—TTY users call via MD Relay
The facilities and services of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources are available to all without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin or physical or mental disability.
This document is available in alternative format upon request from a qualified individual with disability.
This completes the formal portion of the historic walking tour. We invite
you to stay as long as you’d like, stop in and ask questions of our friendly staff,
and revisit those areas you found especially interesting. We hope your trip with
us back in time revealed some of the differences and similarities between the
past and present and provided enhanced insight into life during the 1800’s in
the vicinity of what is now Susquehanna State Park.
Maryland Historic Trust. Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.
http://www.mdihp.net/
Shagena, J. L. ROCK RUN MILL in The Land of Promise– A legacy of John
Stump “of Stafford”. InstantPublisher.com, 2007.
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Self-guided
Walking Tour of
the Rock Run
Historic Area
SUSQUEHANNA STATE PARK
ROCK RUN HISTORIC AREA
Rock Run Mill, 1936 (image courtesy of the Library of Congress)
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INTRODUCTION
Rock Run is historically important to the development of present-day
Harford County. As you walk this historical trail, reflect on the past. Be conscious
of the tremendous efforts made in construction and the quality and
craftsmanship of these structures. Keep in mind the absence of mechanized
equipment at the time and remember that many of the structures you see were
built by hand.
DIRECTIONS
Begin at the mill and follow the purple blaze to each numbered historical
location. Stop and read about the location from your brochure and placard
placed at each site as the history that surrounds you unfolds. This 1/2-mile trail is
easy to moderately difficult. It will take you approximately 45 minutes to
complete.
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tollhouse served as both a
toll collection station, and
as a residence for the toll
keeper. The porch
window was used by the
toll keeper to watch for
boats coming down the
canal as bridge travelers
were entering and exiting
the bridge. The bridge
was washed away in 1856
and the toll keeper was
no longer needed. More information about the bridge can be found on the
tollhouse porch. No known images of the tollhouse and Rock Run Bridge exist,
but the sketch above depicts how they would have appeared in 1850.
When Wilford Wilkinson bought the mill in 1929, he rented out the
tollhouse to the head of his fishing business. The tollhouse was acquired by the
state in 1960.
9. SUSQUEHANNA & TIDEWATER CANAL
This ditch is a remnant of the Susquehanna & Tidewater Canal, which ran 45
miles from Havre de Grace, MD to Wrightsville, PA. Opened in 1840, the canal
was originally 15-20 feet wide and 6-12 feet deep. The canal’s 29 locks together
raised boats from 20 above sea level at Havre de Grace, to 1000 feet at
Wrightsville. The granite locks were about 150 feet long by 18 feet wide. Nine
of these locks were in Maryland, and the remnants of three are within the park.
Some of the stonework is still visible today. Each stone weighs at least one ton.
One of the locks is near the Lapidum Boat Launch, and a second is just south of
where Deer Creek meets the Susquehanna River.
Canal boats were pulled by mules. A boat moving upriver would be pulled
into a lock and the gates behind the boat would be closed to allow water to rise
until the boat reached the required depth to continue traveling up the canal.
The Susquehanna & Tidewater canal prospered in the mid-1800s, but it was
eventually bypassed by railroads. It closed in the early 1900s. Ironically,
railroad tracks were laid on the canal toe-path in mid-1920s to deliver materials
to build Conowingo Dam.
Most of the old canal
upriver from the dam is
under Conowingo Lake.
As the sketch depicts,
the canal allowed goods to
be transported directly to
and from the Rock Run
Gristmill.
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5. MILLPOND
John Stump chose this
location to build a mill because
Rock Run was ideal for
providing waterpower. When
he built to mill, he also
constructed a dam which
created the millpond visible
behind the dam. When the
dam gate is opened, water
flows into the millrace to
power the mill.
6. MILL RACE
In order for the water released from the millpond to reach the mill itself, a
“race” was constructed to control the water flow to the target location. The
millrace is a man-made stream that allows the water to flow from the dam
through the culvert at the driveway to the mansion onto a large dip in the
lawn. This “dip” is known as the holding pond. The water from the millrace
accumulates in the holding pond then travels through the fore bay (iron pipe)
and exits onto the wheel’s buckets, turning the wheel.
7. MILLER’S HOUSE
This stone house, built
around the same time as the
mill, was where the miller of
the Rock Run Mill resided. The
miller was not necessarily the
mill owner, but he was the mill
operator. For use of his
services, he would take his
“pottle,” or fee, from each
bushel ground which was
approximately 1/8th of the
bushel.
According to oral history, in the mid 1800’s when the Tidewater canal was
in operation, the miller’s house doubled as an inn for travelers along the road
and the canal.
8. “JERSEY” TOLLHOUSE
The first bridge to span the Susquehanna River in Maryland opened in this
spot in 1817. Remains of the bridge’s piers are still visible in the Susquehanna
River. Built by the same company that operated the bridge, the Jersey
Mill dam, 2010.
Miller’s house, 2010.
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1. ROCK RUN GRISTMILL
The Rock Run Gristmill was built by John Stump “of Stafford” (John Stump
III) around 1800. A prosperous businessman, Stump owned several mills and
plots of land in Harford, Cecil, and Baltimore Counties. Following his death in
1816, the mill and surrounding lands passed into the Archer family by way of
Stump’s daughter Ann, who had married Dr. John Archer Jr. John Macklem
acquired the mill from the Archer family in 1904. Then in 1929, the mill passed
to Wilford Wilkinson, who operated the mill until his death in 1954. The
Maryland Department of Forest and Parks purchased the mill six years later. In
1965, the mill’s corn-grinding operation was partially restored for public
demonstrations.
Standing four stories tall, the mill was a large building by the standards of
1800. It was a merchant mill, and it ground wheat into flour for both the local
and international market. Much of its flour was sold to the Caribbean. The
original waterwheel would have been made of wood. Even in its earliest
configuration, much of the flour-milling process was automated, so only a few
workers were needed to operate the mill. The building’s 34 windows provided
most of the mill’s interior lighting. Because flour dust is combustible, the mill
usually only ran during daylight hours.
A center of activity during its heyday, the mill is where local residents
bought, sold and bartered goods. The mill’s second floor served as the
community post office from 1827 to 1856. The mail windows and boxes still
remain in place.
Around 1900, the mill was almost completely gutted and rebuilt to its
present configuration. The original flour-grinding stones were replaced with
Rock Run Mill, 1936 (image courtesy of the Library of Congress)
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steel rollers. The traditional millstones continued to grind corn into cornmeal.
The mill ceased to grind wheat in the 1930’s, but the corn-grinding stones
operated until 1954.
The state-of-the-art (at the time) Fitz Waterwheel was installed in 1900.
With 84 buckets, the wheel weighs about 12 tons. When water fills the
buckets, the wheel rotates. The rotating wheel then turns a series of gears,
belts, and pulleys to turn the millstone inside the mill. The turning millstone
grinds the corn into corn meal. A grain-grinding millstone, similar to the one
inside the mill, is located across the street. The entrance to the mill is flanked
by flint-grinding millstones.
2. SPRINGHOUSE
Constructed between 1801 and 1804, the main purpose of the springhouse
was to provide drinking water for the Rock Run Mansion. Because
refrigeration as we know it did not exist, the springhouse also served as cold
storage for foods that spoil easily. Perishable items were placed in sealed
containers and submerged in the 50°F water. Although this water isn’t as cold
as our refrigerators, it served its purpose by keeping the food cool.
The springhouse is a 2-story structure with the second floor being accessed
around the back of the building on the hillside. The second floor allowed
storage for items that benefited from a moist environment. Planks would have
been laid from the hillside to the access point.
Directly below springhouse at the road is a stone engraved with “IN
MEMORY OF JOSHUA COWGILL SMITH 1857-1911.” This stone is actually a
trough, now embedded in the earth, which housed the water that ran through
the springhouse. This trough was available for all to enjoy.
3. CARRIAGE BARN
There were different
uses for this 2-story barn
throughout the years. It was
built into the hillside to
provide direct access to the
second floor where the food
was kept for the animals
housed on the first floor.
Stalls once occupied the area
where the present day
restrooms are located. Later,
carriages were housed in the
lower level while farm
equipment and tools were
stored up above.
Carriage Barn, 1936 (Library of Congress)
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4. ROCK RUN (CARTER-ARCHER) MANSION
John Stump “of Stafford” sold 2 plots of land and 1/2 interest of the mill and
all the affiliated properties in 1801 to John Carter, former husband of Hannah
Stump. In 1804, on the newly purchased land, Carter built the mansion.
However, when Carter died in 1805, his share of the mill and the land,
including the mansion, was sold it in its entirety back to Stump in 1808. Upon
Stump’s death in 1816, Stump left his daughter Ann and her husband, Dr. John
Archer Jr. the 1808 land purchase. The property remained in the Archer family
until 1904 when it was purchased by John Macklem. Like the mill, the mansion
then passed to Wilford Wilkinson in 1929, and then was purchased by the State
Department of Forests and Parks in 1960.
The L-shaped house contains 13 rooms and 4 chimneys to accommodate the
large family. There are multiple living and dining rooms to distinguish between
the formal and family areas. The kitchen was not originally built into the home
as it is seen today. According to a local historical architect, the structure was
added on within five years of the homes construction. The oven and boiler
within the kitchen are unique in that both pieces have individual flues and there
are only two of these particular ovens (this one included) known in the State of
Maryland, serving as a testament to the wealth of the family. Above the kitchen
are small living quarters that housed the servants of the home.
Rock Run Mansion c. 1880.